Polite Requests in Non-native Varieties of English: The Case of Ghanian English

Abstract

Although several studies have been carried out on the theory of politeness,
the definition of this notion varies among linguists and according to languages
and cultures: what is polite and socially appropriate in one context or culture
may be considered impolite or excessively polite in another. Further, rules of
politeness may be transferred from a first language to a second language by
learners who maintain hybridized usage due to these transfers. In this article
we demonstrate the maintenance of some of these transfers in politeness strate.
gies in Ghanaian English. This variety is influenced by the cultural norms of
politeness of some Ghanaian languages whose speakers fuse native speaker
conventions with English politeness conventions. We discuss herein some hybridized
forms that result from cultural transfers from one Ghanaian language,
Akan.